Baguio
Journalists Sign Court of Appeals Petition for Press Freedom
Thirteen community journalists and four media organizations from
Baguio
City
are the latest signatories to a petition filed in the Court of Appeals
which seeks to stop government agencies from muzzling the press.
BY ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW
Bulatlat
BAGUIO
CITY (246 kms from
Manila)
– For Baguio-based journalists, distance is never a factor in supporting
worthy causes.
Thirteen journalists and four media organizations here affixed their
signatures last March 20 as co-petitioners in the case filed at the Court
of Appeals (CA) prohibiting selected government agencies from muzzling the
press through “content-based prior restraint.” Stressing that they are
just the first batch of signatories, they hope that their initiative will
snowball so that other journalists will know the importance of the
petition.
|
GAG US NOT: Baguio
journalists add their signatures to the petition initiated by
Manila-based journalists at the Court of Appeals against media
repression. Assisting the journalists is noted human rights lawyer
Pablito Sanidad (standing in white barong) of the Free Legal
Assistance Group (FLAG).
NORDIS PHOTO |
The 13 signatories were Artemio Dumlao (Philippine Star); Tom
Picaña (Manila Times); Kathleen Okubo (Baguio Midland Courier);
Robert Tabay (DZEQ); Malou Guieb (Business Mirror); Maria Elena
Catajan and Nick Canilao (Malaya and Zigzag Weekly); Art
Allad-Iw and Lyn Ramo (Northern Dispatch); and Angelica Campo,
Erwilyn Lei Solito, Ryan Manzano, Daniel dela Cruz (College Editors Guild
of the Philippines or CEGP).
Four media organizations also signed the petition, namely the National
Union of Journalists of the Philippines-Baguio-Benguet chapter (NUJP-BB),
Philippine Press Photographers Club-Baguio Benguet, Baguio Correspondents
and Broadcasters Club and CEGP.
The signing happened at the office of human rights lawyer Pablito Sanidad,
chair of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG).
The CA petition was filed last March 8 by eight media organizations, the
University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP CMC) and
37 journalists and journalism educators. It seeks to prohibit the
Executive Secretary, Department of Justice (DOJ), Philippine National
Police (PNP), and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) from
imposing any content-based prior restraint on media.
Though there is no reported suppression yet by government agencies against
the media here, the Baguio-based co-petitioners claimed that the PNP, DOJ
and NTC continue to impose content-based prior restraint despite Pres.
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s lifting of Proclamation No. 1017.
Violating media rights
Sanidad said that the CA petition is very important to journalists outside
Metro Manila as they are more vulnerable to harassment and intimidation
since they are less organized.
Noting the difference with the one filed at the Supreme Court questioning
Proclamation No. 1017, the CA petition focuses on the constitutional
rights of media practitioners and the threat on their role in bringing out
information the public needs. He cited the PNP’s move to raid the office
of The Daily Tribune and the monitoring of journalists and media
organizations. “The Supreme Court case is more on the legality of PP 1017
where the rights involved include political rights like the warrantless
arrest, banning of marches, etc.”
While PP 1017 was already lifted, Sanidad stressed that there still exists
a “creeping kind of authoritarianism measure. It is calibrated to
intimidate which has the same effect – the denial of press freedom.”
Campaign
Not confining themselves to the legal struggle, the signatories will adopt
other means of protest to show their unity against creeping
authoritarianism, said Dumlao, chairperson of the Baguio-Benguet’s
National Union of Journalist of the Philippines (NUJP). He urged other
media practitioners
to also sign as co-petitioners. Bulatlat
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